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BMW Group Press Conference Paris Mondial Motor Show 2016

Thu Sep 29 15:56:00 CEST 2016 Speech

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Bonjour Mesdames et Messieurs! It’s great to be back in Paris! This is the 100th anniversary of the BMW Group and we created some very special cars to mark this milestone. Some of you may have been with us in Munich or London for the presentation of our “NEXT 100” Vision cars… Allow me to give you some brief impressions of how we see the future for our three brands...

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Welcome to the BMW Group! You expect to see the latest models at a
motor show, of course – but the BMW Group is concerned with so much
more than that. It seeks to provide answers to the challenges of
today. I’m very pleased to say that Dr Ian Robertson, Member of the
Board for Sales and Marketing BMW is here to tell you more about that
and, with a view on the next 100 years, he’ll also talk about the
company’s vision for future urban mobility. So now, ladies and
gentlemen, please welcome Dr Ian Robertson!

Dr. Ian Robertson

Bonjour Mesdames et Messieurs!

It’s great to be back in Paris!

This is the 100th anniversary of the BMW Group and we created some
very special cars to mark this milestone. Some of you may have been
with us in Munich or London for the presentation of our “NEXT 100”
Vision cars… Allow me to give you some brief impressions of how we see
the future for our three brands:

And MINI: The car of choice for the urban avant-garde will always be
on the move as part of a sharing, connected community, true to the
motto “Every MINI is my MINI”.

You’ve just seen the first driverless Rolls-Royce – the pinnacle of
effortless super-luxury mobility. The future Rolls-Royce will be the
ultimate luxury retreat – a “Grand Sanctuary”.

Next month in Los Angeles, we’ll present our vision for BMW Motorrad
– this will complete the BMW Group’s “Next 100” world tour.

In our centenary year, our focus is firmly on the future. Our vision
is of sustainable and seamless mobility – across our whole portfolio -
from two-wheelers, right up to the “pinnacle of luxury”.

Future mobility will be: Autonomous, Connected, Emission-free and
Shared – and it will be geared to meeting the individual needs of each
and every single customer.

More than half of the world’s population now lives in towns and
cities, and this number is expected to rise to 70% by 2050.
Urbanization is one of the most important issues of today and the
future. Here we are in Paris – one of the world’s megacities and one
of the most populous urban areas in Europe. It’s the perfect place to
talk about new solutions for sustainable, urban mobility.

The BMW i3 and i8 were designed exactly with those requirements in
mind – and now we’re already introducing a second i3 variant. For the
first time at a show, here is the new BMW i3 with 50% increased
battery capacity and therefore significantly more range.

I am also delighted to welcome someone who is no stranger to Paris
and has big plans for this city… he understands the importance of
emission-free mobility. Tony Estanguet has won three Gold Medals in
Slalom Canoeing – and is now the Co-president of Paris’s bid for the
2024 Summer Olympics – he’s also fond of driving the i3, I hear….

(Dialogue Ian Robertson and Tony Estanguet)

Dr. Ian Robertson

We are expanding the BMW i portfolio to fit our customers’ requirements:

Orders for the new BMW i3 have been very positive.

In 2018, we will add a further i model - the BMW i8 “Roadster”.

“Sheer driving pleasure” and “sustainability” are very compatible –
we have proven that. As we announced a couple of days ago in our new
global Motorsport strategy - we are very much looking forward to our
cooperation with Andretti Formula E in the FIA Formula E Championship.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

As I mentioned earlier – alongside emission free mobility, other
elements will play a major role in future mobility. We see the
sweeping changes created by digitalization as an excellent opportunity
to make mobility simpler, safer and more convenient. Digitalization is
an enabler for new levels of connectivity and for autonomous driving.

Recently we’ve taken some big steps towards fully autonomous driving:

At the end of last year we acquired the mapping service HERE,
together with other German premium car companies. HERE has just
unveiled its next generation real-time data services: They are the
world’s first services to be created from real-time sensor data from
competing car brands – and they are the first outcome of this cooperation.

A major further step was our announced partnership with Intel and
Mobileye earlier this year. We will bring fully autonomous driving to
the roads with the launch of the BMW iNEXT in 2021 – this will set the
benchmark in autonomous driving technology.

BMW Connected links your diary to your navigation system –
simplifying your life and making sure you arrive on time. If the
traffic on your planned route becomes heavy, the “time to leave
notification” will tell you to leave earlier. It will also tell you
when your electric vehicle is fully charged.

Connectivity and e-mobility naturally complement and support one
another. For example, already 20 per cent of our DriveNow car-sharing
fleet is electric.

With BMW i we have we have demonstrated that we think long-term and
holistic. For example, did you know that street lights can double as
charging stations for electric vehicles? With our “Light and Charge”
project in Europe and the US we are working on the intelligent
integration of charging points within city infrastructure.

One thing is clear: We intend to shape the future of premium
individual mobility.

Our innovative eDrive technology in BMW i underscores our leading
role in powertrain electrification. And we are using that technology
to systematically electrify other vehicles in the BMW Group portfolio.

We now offer four BMW iPerformance vehicles: Customer demand for
these vehicles is even higher than we expected and we have increased
production of these models accordingly.

BMW is the world’s most successful provider of plug-in hybrid
vehicles in the premium segment - both in terms of sales and in the
range of vehicles available.

This shows that our strategy is the right one – and more models will
follow, including a MINI PHEV.

We’re always working to advance the core technologies of e-mobility.

With electric vehicles, the next logical step is to achieve greater
range through better battery technology. This will make emission-free
mobility more attractive for larger groups of customers. Many
customers - especially in a busy urban environment such as Paris -
find two wheels more convenient than four.

Two-wheeler fans will be delighted to hear that we will also utilize
BMW i technology – the battery cells with 94 Ah - for BMW Motorrad.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I would now like to introduce the World Premiere of the new BMW C
evolution with more range. The President of BMW Motorrad, Stephan
Schaller, will tell you more…

Stephan Schaller, President of BMW Motorrad

Bonjour, Mesdames et Messieurs,

It is my great pleasure to present our new C evolution electric
maxi-scooter. When it comes to motorcycles, the same rule applies:
Improved battery technology – and therefore longer range – is the key
to success for electro-mobility.

The new BMW C evolution features the next generation of battery cells
as used in the BMW i3. This gives the long-range version a range of up
to 160 km, with better continuous output and a higher top speed.

But, much more important than that is the fun factor at every traffic
light. No-one is going to beat the BMW C evolution – we’re talking 0
to 50 in just 2.8 seconds.

The C evolution comes with new graphics and colour schemes and we’ve
responded to customer wishes with a much thinner and more flexible
charging cable. There are also new accessories, like the smartphone
cradle and many options for individualization.

I am delighted that the French are such big fans of the C evolution –
it is our biggest market. And soon, in addition to Europe and China,
we will offer the new BMW C evolution also in the US, Japan, South
Korea and Russia. We see these as further key markets for this vehicle.

The urban environment offers ideal conditions for our maxi-scooters
and electro-mobility. I firmly believe that the electric drive train
is also a strong part of the future for BMW Motorrad.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

BMW Motorrad has already delivered more than 100,000 motorcycles and
maxi-scooters to customers since the start of the year. We’re
especially delighted by the very positive development we see here in
France and in China with our motorcycles. We are well on track to make
2016 our sixth consecutive record year. Our goal of selling more than
200,000 two-wheelers in 2020 appears well within reach.

Today, with the new BMW C evolution, we presented our solution for
clean individual mobility. It is perfect for the city, perfect for
Paris. But if it absolutely has to be a car, then I could probably be
persuaded to give this one a try…

MINI is the perfect fit for the urban environment. Take the Clubman,
it combines driving comfort and dynamic performance with everyday
driveability. It also provides a surprising amount of variable space.

For the success of the MINI brand, we have to be in tune with the
times more than any other brand. These days, people are focusing on
the “essential”. It’s more about the purpose of things, about
relevance. We can tell we are on the right track – this year has been
MINI’s strongest ever, in terms of sales. We have already sold well
over 220,000 MINIs this year – that’s 5.7 per cent more than last
year. The MINI Clubman is our main growth driver, alongside the new
MINI Convertible.

Dr. Ian Robertson

Ladies and Gentlemen,

As Sebastian’s just shown us (with the MINI Clubman John Cooper
Works), dynamic driving is in our blood at the BMW Group and nowhere
more so than with the BMW brand. At our BMW M stand here in Paris,
you’ll see some truly magnificent vehicles, from the M2 right up to
the X6 M. At BMW, our whole range benefits from the innovative and
groundbreaking technologies we develop at the two bookends “BMW i” and
“BMW M” – with “sheer driving pleasure” always in focus.

We are constantly evolving the brand’s offering to suit the changing
requirements of our customers. We’ve successfully expanded our range
in the compact segment. With desirable products, we’ve attracted many
new customers to the brand.

This has been complemented by our new models in the fast-growing SUV
segment. Our BMW X model range is becoming more and more popular with
customers all over the world. X vehicles now make up more than 30% of
BMW’s portfolio. Customer demand is growing in both the Compact and
the SUV segments – that’s why we’ve decided to introduce a new X Model
to satisfy both.

And now, we are delighted to give you a glimpse of the future with
the World Premiere of the BMW Concept X2!

World premiere of the BMW Concept X2

What a fantastic vehicle! Extroverted, dynamic and athletic – the
Concept X2 has its own distinct character within the BMW X family. It
is the first Sports Activity Coupé in the Compact Class – underlining
BMW’s leading position as the creator of the Sports Activity Vehicle.

It is a vehicle clearly made for “urban adventure” and I am delighted
to announce that the X2 will come in 2018. Now I’d like to hand over
to BMW’s Head of Design, Karim Habib, to tell you more about the BMW
Concept X2…

Design Presentation, Karim Habib.

Dr. Ian Robertson

I am very confident that the X2 will be a big success when it hits
the market in spring, 2018.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Mobility as we know it is set to change more in the next decade, than
in the past 100 years. This is not a “cliché” – it is a fact.

Over the past 100 years, innovation has consistently been one of the
main success factors of the BMW Group. As we enter a new and exciting
era, we are intent on shaping the future of premium, individual
mobility and services.

How do we see future urban mobility at the BMW Group? Quite simple:
Tailored to individual customers’ needs - from two wheelers right up
to the luxury class – mobility will remain an emotional and enjoyable experience.